Label feeding and applying mechanism



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,1943. c, J. MALHIOT LABEL FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM .Filed June20, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 s i Ulllli IN VEN TOR. @ZawzzceJMaZlzz'afi 9%NEYS.

c. J. MALHIOT 2,330,830

LABEL FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20,1941 I N I EN TOR.

- O t- 5, 19 3- c. J. MALHIYOT 2,330,830

LABEL FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Filed June 20, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet5 INVEN TOR.

mammal [161mm Oct. 5, 1943. c. J. MALHIOT I I LABEL FEEDING AND APPLYINGMECHANISM 5- Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 20, 1941 IN VEN TOR. GZczzameJ/Valflzot Oct. 5, 1943." c. J. MALHIOT 2,330,830

I LABEL FEEDING AND AiPLYING MECHANISM Filed June 20,1941 s Sheets-Sheet5 INVENTOR.

' BY W'M% MW Patented Oct. 5, 1943 LABEL FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISMClarence J.

Malhiot, Oak Park, 111., assignor to F. B. Redington 00., Chicago, 111.,a corporation of Illinois Application June 20, 1941, Serial No. 398,988

18 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for feeding and applying seals orlabels to articles. More specifically, the invention relates to seal orlabel feeding and applying mechanisms adapted to be applied to awrapping machine of the type disclosed and claimed in the co-pendingapplication Serial No. 398,987 filed concurrently herewith and assignedto the present assignee. This co-pending application relates to amachine for wrapping rolls of flexible material such as rolls of toiletpaper, paper towels and other like and similar rolled materials.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of new andimproved means for feeding seals or labels to a predetermined positionwith respect to a continuously moving article and then applying the sealor label to the opposite ends of the article.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of new andimproved means for definitely and positively feeding seals or labelsconsecutively to a wrapped article to be applied to said article, therebeing means for preventing the feeding of a seal or label to the wrappedarticle when a wrapped article is not in proper position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of feeding meansembodying a continuously rotating feed roller for starting the feedingof a wrapper to a predetermined position, there being means for liftingthe entire-stack of labels or seals if an article upon which the seal isto be applied is not positioned at a predetermined location.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improvedfeeding mechanism whereby seals or labels are feed horizontally from thebottom of a stack and then fed vertically to a predetermined positionwhere they are fed along a predetermined path and moved 180 degreesabout a vertical axis so as to bring the seal or label in juxtapositionwith respect to the ends of an article to which the seal or label is tobe applied.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of new andimproved detector mechanism whereby a lifting element is adapted to re;move the stack of seals or labels out of the path of continuouslyoperating feed starting mechanism so as to prevent the feeding of theseals or labels should an article not be in a proper predeterminedposition.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a new andimproved continuously rotating element for feeding seals or labels froma predetermined location to another location, the

showing some of the seal being thereafter shifted so as to bring thesame in proper position with respect to a continuously moving articleupon which the seal or label is to be fed.

Another object resides in the provision of new and improved feedmechanism of a novel construction wherein the seals or labels are fed toa predetermined position to have glue applied thereto and then shiftedto another predetermined position to be applied to the ends of acontinuously moving article.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of seal orlabel feeding and applying mechanism which is adapted to be operatedcontinuously for continuously feeding labels or seals through apredetermined path and positioning the seals or labels in a novel mannerso as to have glue applied to the seals and then feed the glued seals tothe ends of continuously moving rolls of material.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout theprogress of the following specification.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a selected embodiment of theinvention and the views therein are as follows:

Fig; 1 is a detail front elevational view of the improved seal or labelfeeding and applying mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary front elevational view on a considerablylarger scale than Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view on a reduced scale detector mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a detail elevational view of the gluing mechanism looking inthe direction of the arrows 1-1 of Fig. 2; and v Fig. 8 is an end viewshowing a roll of toilet paper having the end seal or label appliedacross the folded wrapper ends.

The particular seal or label feeding and applying mechanism herein shownfor the purpose of illustrating the invention is adapted to apply endseals or labels. over the ends of rolls of flexible material which havebeen previously wrapped by a wrapping machine of the type disclosed inthe aforesaid co-pending application. The present seal feeding andapplying mechanism comprises a suitable supporting frame or structure Iwhich is adapted to be secured to a part of a wrapping verticallypositioned feed roller tively large feed roller 20.

bers 4 operatively supported and of a proper size so as to receive andsupport a plurality of labels or seals 3 in stacked relationship. Thelabels or seals 3 are arranged within the uprights 4 of the magazine,and are arranged above a member 5.

A feed roller 6 to start the feeding of a lowermost seal or label in themagazine 2 is rotatively mounted immediately below the stack of seals infixed upon a shaft 25 which is mounted between a fixed bearing 26 and abearing 21 which is pressed toward the bearing 26 by a spring 28. Theshaft receiving opening in the bearing 26 is provided with a smallamount of play therein so as to permit proper operation of the roll I9so as to maintain the peripheral part 22 of the roller I9 tightlyagainst the periphery of the large feed roller 20. The spring 28 isarranged about a pin 29 which is rigidly connected to the fixed bearing26 and passes through both bearings 26 and 21 as clearly shown in Figs.3 and 6.

The roller I9, therefore, permits proper and easy feeding of a seal orlabel between the rollers I9 and 20, the label or seal first coming inengagement with the roller I9 at the straight porthe magazine and isadapted to have physical contact with a lowermost seal or label to startthe feeding thereof out of the magazine and feed it between two pairs ofopposed feed rollers I and 8 positioned adjacent suitable slots in afeed guide 9.

The feed roller 6 for starting the feeding of a lowermost seal or label3 is generally cylindrical in shape and carries an upstanding flexibleelement I which extends a predetermined distance above the normalperiphery of the roll 6. The feed roll 6 is mounted on a transverseshaft II and is driven by the shaft II in any suitable manner, such asby the, variable speed, overrunning clutch type of mechanism disclosedin applicants co-pending application Serial No. 398,989 filedconcurrently herewith and assigned to the present assignee. The feedroller per se and the flexible upstanding feeding part II) thereof is ofthe type disclosed and claimed in the latter aforesaid co-pendingapplication Serial No. 398,989. The feed roller 6 is adapted to rotatecontinuously and during every revolution the feeding surface Ill thereofengages a surface of a lowermost seal or label and feeds the seal orlabel along the guide 9 to position between the feed rollers l and 8.The trailing side of the label stack (to the left Fig. rests on a pairof needles which are adapted to pierce one or more of the lowermostlabels or seals to prevent accidental movement or displacement thereof.A scraper element I2 extends upwardly from a lever I3 pivotally mountedat I4 to a part of the supporting structure. I for the purpose ofsmoothing out and pressing any tear or projection which may be caused inthe seal by reason of any tearing action caused thereupon because of theneedles.

After a seal or label has been fed along the guide 9 between the feedrollers I and 8, it passes along the vertical guide I5 which cooperateswith and is preferably a part of the aforesaid guide 9. A second feedroller I6 cooperates with the feed roller 8 to feed the seal properlydownwardly through vertical guide I5. and 8 cause the seal or label tobe fed between a pairof operatively positioned feed rollers I1 and I8for feeding the seal or label 3 between a I9 and a rela- The feed rollerI9, while approximately circular in cross section, has two portions ofdifferent tion 23 and then later pressed or pushed into operativephysical contact with the periphery of the roller when the peripheralpart 22 of the roller I9 has been rotated a predetermined amount. Thisperipheral engagement of the periphery 22 of the roller I9 against theperiphery of the large roller 20 will move the label or seal intoposition between guide shoe 39 and the pe- The feed rollers I6 ripheryof the large roller 20 where it is fed between'the roller 20 and a smallfeed roller 3|.

, Guide shoe 30 is pivotally mounted at 30 Fig. 3, and is urged towardthe large roller 20 by means of a spring 33. This spring 33 causes thesmall feed roller 3| to have peripheral engagement with the periphery ofthe rotating large feed roller 20. The guide shoe 30 has an arcuatesurface adjacent the periphery of the large feed roller 20 so as toconform therewith, but diverges away from the feed roller to provide alabel receiving space 34, Fig. 3. The continued rotation of the largefeed roller 20 in cooperation with the small feed roller 3| will causethe seal or label to be glued by a glue roller 35 and then fed between asecond guide shoe 36 arranged adjacent the periphery of the large feedroll.

The guide shoe 36 is pivotally mounted at 31, and carries a small feedroller 39 which is urged toward the periphery of the roller 20 by meansof a spring 40. The roller 39 has peripheral engagement with theperiphery of the large roller 20 and assists in feeding a seal or label3 against an end 4| of the rollof wrapped material 42, Fig. 3. The rollsI9 and 29 are provided'with vertically spaced annular grooves 43 and 44respectively, Fig. 6, so as to provide for the outstanding circular orcylindrically shaped projections 45 and 46 respectively, which areadapted for contacting relationship as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

The glue roller 35 is likewise provided with annular projections 41 andannular grooves 48 be tween the projections. The projections 41 on theglue roller 35 are located so that they will be in substantially thesame horizontal plane as the annular grooves 43 and 44 in the feedrollers I9 and 20 respectively, whereby the projections 45 and 46 on therollers I9 and 20 will be in substantially the same plane as the grooves48 in the glue roller 35. The staggering of the projections 41 on theglue roller with respect to the projections 45 and 46 on the rollers I9and 20 definitely prevents any glue from the glue roller 35 from cominginto contact with the peripheral feeding surfaces 45 and 46 of therollers I9 and 20.

The glue roller- 35 is mounted on a vertical shaft 49 mounted in theglue housing or pot 50.

' The glue housing or pot 50 comprises a 3-sided structure 5| having abottom 52 with an open side where the glue roller 35 is rotativelymounted. A scraper plate 53 is fixed to an upstanding rigid shaft 54which extends upwardly through a top plate 55 mounted on top of the sidewalls of the structure One end of the scraper element 53 is rigidlysecured to the vertical shaft 54 by means of bolts 56. The free end ofthe scraper element is notched out as indicated at 51, Fig. 7, so as toaccommodate the annular ribs 41 projecting outwardly from the glueroller 35. Notching out of the scraper 51 provides inwardly extendingteeth 58 which extend in the annular grooves 48 in the glue roller. Thescraper is adapted to make relatively tight contact with the glue rollerso as to prevent the glue inthe glue compartment from running out.

Moreover, the scraper 53 permits only a proper amount of glue to beapplied on the peripheral surfaces of the annular extensions 41 so thatthe seals or labels may be properly glued. A closing plate 59 ofrelatively springy material is fastened to a part of the glue pot asindicated at 60, 'Fig. 3, and is spring-urged against the upstandingshaft 54 by the inherent springiness or resiliency of the metal fromwhich the mem-' An oppositely disposed closing ber 59 is made. plate 6|,Fig. 3, made of relatively resilient material, is provided to form aclosing wall between the glue roller and the end of the glue pot. Thislatter plate 60 is maintained tightly against the glue roller 35 becauseof the natural or inherent resiliency of the metal from which it ismade. This plate 6! is provided with notches to accommodate the ridges41 on the glue roller and maintains close enough contact with the glueroller so as to prevent the escape of glue, but is spaced far enoughaway from the roll to permit any glue remaining on the periphery of theglue roller 35 to reenter the pot 56.

An arm 62 is rigidly mounted on the upper end of the rigid shaft 54 andis provided with an I opening on its free end through which a pin 63 Thepin 63 is rigidly secured to a lug' extends. 64 mounted on the upperplate 55011 the glue housing. A spring 65 extends about the pin 63 andis confined between the lug 64 and the brackv et arm 62 and tends tourge the bracket arm in an outwardly direction; A thumb nut 66 engagesthe free threaded end of the pin 63 to lock the arm 62 ,with respect tothe pin 63. The thumb nut may be screwed inwardly or outwardly to adjustthe scraper arm toward and away from the glue roller so as to permit agreater or lesser amount of glue to be fed by the peripheral projections41 on the glue roller. The adjustment of the thumb nut 66 permitsrelative adjustment of the scraper 53 toward and away from the glue potbecause the scraper 53 is rigidly secured to the shaft 54 and thebracket arm 62 is also rigidly secured to the shaft 54.

A detector mechanism is the feeding of a provided to prevent seal orlabel when a roll upon which the seal or label is to be applied is notin proper relative position. This detector mechanism comprises adetector finger 61 which is adapted to extend through a slot 68 providedin the article guide rail 69 which guides rolls 42 as they arecontinuously moved successively along a predetermined path, Figs. 1 and4, by a conveyor mechanism 16, Figs. 1 and 2.

The detector finger 61 is rigidly connected to a vertical rod 1|, Figs.1 and 4, to which a lever 12 is fastened. A spring 13, Fig. 4, isarranged behind a tail piece 14 on the detector finger to normally urgethe detector finger inwardly of the slot 69 in the guide rail 68; A link15 is connected to the lever 12 and carries a collar 18 at itsextremeend, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. The link its pivot 11.

15, therefore, is given longitudinal movement by the rocking movement ofthe detector finger 61. Thus when the detector finger is shifted in oneposition, the link 15 will be given longitudinal movement in onedirection, and when the finger is moved in an opposite direction, thelink 15 will be given opposite longitudinal movement, and inasmuch asthe collar 16 is connected to the end of the link 15, the collar will bemoved along with the link 15. The detector finger 68 is operated or notoperated by the presence or absence of a roll to control the feeding ofa wrapper.

The seal or label supporting member 5 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 11and includes a rigid extension lever 18 through which the link 15 issupported and guided, Figs. 2 and 6. A lever 19 is adapted forcooperation with the collar 16 to eifectraising movement of thesupporting member 5 as shown in full line position in Fig. 6, when anarticle 42 is not in a proper position with respect to the depressorfinger 61. This lever 19, Fig. 6, is mounted on the shaft 11 which alsocarries an arm 88 rigidly connected thereto, Figs. 2,3 and 5. The armcarries a cam roller 8| which is in contact with the peripheral surfaceof a cam 82. The cam 82 is mounted'on the shaft I l upon which thestart-feed roller 6 is mounted and is adapted to be rotated by thatshaft. Thus, during every revolution of the shaft II the lever 19 willbe swung back and forth on However, even though the lever 19 is givencontinuous rocking movement because of the cam and cam roller, the lever19 normally has no effect on the lever arm 18 because the end of thelever 19 does not normally come into engagement with the collar 16 onthe link 15. How ever, when a roll 42 is not in position, the detectorfinger 61 will be forced a predetermined distance inwardly through theslot 68 and cause the link 15 to be moved longitudinally to bring thecollar 16 into the path of movement of the continuously rocking lever19. Upon engagement of the rocking lever 19 with the collar 16 on thelink 15 the lever 18 will be swung on its pivot 11, and inasmuch as thelabel or seal supporting members 5 are integral with the lever 13, themembers 5 will be swung upwardly as shown in full lines in Fig. 6, andcause all the seals or labels 3 in the magazine 2 to be raised upwardlyout of the path of the rotating start-feed roller 6. When the supportingmember 5 is raised upwardly as shown in full lines in Fig. 6, no seal orlabel will be fed because the lowermost seal or label .to be fed will beout of physical engagement with the start-feed roller 6.

When a roll 42 again comes into proper position, the detector finger 61will be depressed by the roll 42 and swing the detector finger so as togive longitudinal movement to the link 15; therefore moving the collar16 out of thepath of the rocking lever 19. Therefore the rocking of thelever will have no effect on the member 5 and the member 5 will be inthe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. The lever 19 is cut awayor curved as indicated at 83, Fig. 6, so that the rocking lever 19 willnot come in contact with the link 15. The only time, therefore. that therocking lever will operate the lever 18 is when the collar 16 is in thepath of movement of the lever 19 when there is no roll 42 in properposition with respect to the detector finger 61.

The parts are all driven synchronously and in proper timed relationshipso as to effect proper operation of the various parts at the propertime. The drivenelements are driven'from a suitable drive shaft 85 whichmay be driven in any suitable manner from a driven element of thewrapping machine to which the present feeding and applying mechanism isapplied. The drive shaft 85 carries a bevel gear which meshes with a,bevel gear 86 on a vertical shaft 81 and drives this vertical shaft 81upon which the large feed roller 20 is rigidly attached to drive theroller 20. A gear 88 on the shaft 81 meshes with and drives a gear 89 onthe shaft 25 which drives the smaller feed roller I9. A gear 90 on theshaft 49 of the glue roller 35 also meshes with the gear 88 and isdriven thereby, Fig. 2. The small rollers 3| and 39 also have gears atthe lower ends of their shafts which mesh with gear 88 on shaft 8! forthe purpose of driving these small rollers. The rollers I9 and 20, theglue roller 35 and the rollers 3I and 39 are thereby caused all tooperate synchronously and in proper timed relationship by the shaft 81.The drive shaft 85 also carries a gear 9| which meshes with a gear 92mounted on a shaft 93, Fig. 5. The gear 92 drives an idler gear 94mounted on a shaft 95. A small gear 96 is rigidly secured to the gear 95and meshes with and drives a gear 91 on a shaft 98. The gear 91 mesheswith a gear 99, Fig. 5, on the shaft II which drives the start feed roll3, the shaft II also carrying the cam 82.

The gear 99 drives an idler gear I00, Fig. 5, which drives a gear IOImounted on the shaft I02 which carries the feed roll I8. The gear IN onthe shaft I02 has meshing engagement with a gear I03 on a shaft I04which carries the coopcrating feed roll IT. The shaft I04 which car riesthe gear I03 and the feed roll I1 is operatively mounted on pivotedlever arms I05 which are urged by springs I06 inwardly so as to maintainproper meshing engagement between the gears IOI and I03 and to maintainthe feed rollers I1 and I8 in proper contacting relationship. The idlergear I 00 also drives a gear I01 on a shaft I08 upon which the feedroller 8 is mounted. This gear I 01 has meshing engagement with gearsI09 and H0 mounted on shafts III and H2, respectively. The shafts IIIand H2 carry the feed roller I6 and the presser feed roller 1, re-

spectively. The shafts III and H2 are carried by lever arms H3 and H4respectively, and are spring pressed by springs H5 and H6 respectively,Fig. 5, so as to maintain the gears I09 and H0 in proper meshingrelationship with the gear I01 and to keep the rollers I6 and 1 in tightfrictional contact with the feed roller 8. The shafts III and H2 arerelatively long and the spring pressed rollers I6 and I are mounted sothat the springs H5 and H6 apply the pressure only on one side.Therefore, the opposite ends-of the shafts III and II2 are provided withbalancing rollers Ill and II 8 which are provided with peripheral rims II9 and I20 respectively. These peripheral rims arespaced apart-adistance equal to the thickness of a seal orlabel v3 and therefore as aseal or label 3 passes between the spaced feed rollers l and I5 andtheir cooperating feed roller 8, the parts will be in proper parallelrelationship and in proper balance.

Similar balancing rolls are provided on shafts I02 and I as to maintainthe rolls IT and I8 in proper feeding relationship.

A brush I2I, Figs. 2, 3, and 16, is mounted on a shaft I22 and is forthe purpose of brushing the start feed roller 8 so as to keep this feedroll 5 clean at all times. The shaft I22 is driven by a belt I28 drivenfrom a pulley I24 mounted on the shaft II.

After a roll 42 has had the seal 3 applied thereto over the endsthereof, the rolls are fed to a sealing mechanism in the form of aconveyor I25, Fig. 1, having means for pressing the seal against the endof the roll, and preferably having wobbling presser members of the typedisclosed in applicants co-pending application Serial No. 398,990 filedconcurrently herewith and assigned to the present assignee.

Operation During operation of the herein disclosed seal or label feedingand applying mechanism, seals or labels 3 are fed out of the magazine 2by thestart feed roller 6 which feeds a lowermost seal or labeLto thehorizontal part of the guide 9 and between the feed roller 8 and thepresser roller I. The label or seal is then fed downwardly passingbetween the feed roller 8 and the presser roller I 6 through thevertical guide I5 in between the feed rollers I1 and I8. These latterrollers I1 and I0 feed the seal or label between the ribbed feed rollersI9 and 20, there being a space between the surface of roll 20 and theundercut or smaller diameter part 2I of roll I9. The seal or label isthen engaged by the larger peripheral portion 22 of the feed roller I9and fed in position between the periphery of the large feed roller 20and the guide shoe 30. The seal or label is then fed by means of thelarge feed roller 20 and a roller 3I on the shoe 30 to proper positionwith respect to the glue roller 35 where glue is applied thereto becauseof the frictional engagement of the glued ribs 41 on the glue roller 35.After glue has been applied to the seal it is fed under the shoe 35 andthen by means of the roller 39 and the large feed roller 20 to the endof the continuously moving article 92, and is maintained in contactingrelationship with the roll 42 because of the guides 69. Should there beno article in proper position to have a label applied thereto, no labelwill be fed because a detector finger 81 will be urged through the slot68 in the guide 59 and cause longitudinal shifting of the link 15. Thislongitudinal shifting of the link I5 will move the collar I6 intoengagement with the continuously rocking lever I9 which is continuouslyoperated by means of the continuously rotating cam on the shaft I I ofthe feed start roller 6. The movement of the collar I6 into the path ofmovement of the continuously rocking lever I9 will cause engagement ofthe'lever I9 with the collar I6 and therefore move the lever 18 to theright, Fig. 6. This movement of the lever I8 causes the supportingmember 5 to be raised upwardly because the lever 78 is rigid with themembers 5. As the members 5 are raised, all the labels or seals 3 in themagazine 2 will be raised upwardly out of the path of the start feedroller 6. However, when a package is again in proper position thedepressor finger 67 will be depressed by a package and move outwardly,again returning the parts to their normal position in which the collarI5 will be out of the path of movement of the rocking lever I9. In thislatter position, the support 5 will be in its normal position as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 6 and the seals or labels will be in position tobe engaged by the feeding surface I0 on the start feed roller 6.

The invention provides mechanism for feeding and applying seals orlabels to the ends of packages and causes the labels or seals to be fedor not fed depending upon the presence or absence of a package in apredetermined position. The mechanism is compact and Operatesefliciently. It may be incorporated as a part of a wrapping machine orit is adaptable for use as a separate unit to be applied to existingmachines. The detector mechanism is positive and eficient in operationand comprises relatively few and simple parts. The means for feeding theseals or labels comprises start feed rollers which feed the labels to apredetermined position where they are fed by other feed rolls topredetermined positions. The small feed roller I9 is spring-urgedagainst its companion feed roller 20 and causes the seals or labels tobe fed past the glue roller to have glue applied to the seal or label.The feed rollers I9, 20 and the glue roller 35 are provided withperipheral ribs or extensions so as to cause proper feeding and gluing.The peripheral extensions on the feed rollers l9 and 20 are adapted forcontacting relationship while the peripheral extensions on the glueroller 35 are positioned so as to be in a plane out of the plane of theribs on the rollers I9 and 20 so that any possibility of glue gettingonto the feed rollers I9 and 20 is eliminated. The parts are allpositively driven and are properly synchronized and correlated so as toprovide proper operation.

Changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of theparts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacriflcingany of its advantages, and the right is hereby reserved to make all suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, means for feedingsaid sheet members from said stack, a

- pair of feed rolls for receiving said sheet members from said feedingmeans and advancing the same, and an undercut portion on the peripheralsurface of at least oneof said rolls for receiving the sheet memberslongitudinally of the axes of said rolls.

2. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, means for feedingsaid sheet members from said stack, a pair of feed rolls for receivingsaid sheet members from said feeding means and advancing the same, anundercut portion on the peripheral surface of at least one of said rollsfor receiving the sheet members longitudinally of the axes of saidrolls, and a surface on said rolls for thereafter engaging said sheetmembers and advancing the same.

3. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, means for feedingsaid sheet members from said stack, a

pair of feed rolls for receiving said sheet members and advancing thesame, an adhesive applying roll for engaging said members while on oneof said feed rolls, a plurality of spaced outwardly projectingarticle-engaging ribs on at least the one said roll, and a plurality ofspaced outwardly projecting article-engaging ribs on said adhesiveapplying roll, said ribs on the adhcsive applying roll being staggeredwith respect to the ribs of the feed roll so as to be positionedadjacent the spaces between said first mentioned ribs.

4. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, and means including a power driven elementengageable under said stack to move the stack out of engagement withsaid rotatable feeding means.

5. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable under the lower end of saidstack, and means including a power drive for raising and lowering saidlast mentioned member for effecting movement of said sheets into and outof engagement with said rotatable means.

6. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable under the lower end of saidstack, means for 'pivotally mounting said member, an arm for rockingsaid member about said pivot, and power drive means for moving said armto effect movement of said stack into and out of engagement with saidrotatable feed means.

7. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable under the lower end of saidstack, means for pivotally mounting said member, an arm for rocking saidmember about said pivot to effect movement of said stack into and out ofengagement with said rotatable feed means, a rock arm on said apparatus,said rock arm being normally disconnected from said first named arm, andmeans operable to effect a driving connection between said rock arm andsaid first mentioned arm.

8. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable under the lower end of saidstack, means for pivotally mounting said member, an arm for rocking saidmember about said pivot to effect movement of said stack into and out ofengagement with said rotatable feed means, a rock arm on said apparatus,drive means for continuously rocking said rock arm, and shiftable meansoperable to effect a driving connection between said rock arm and saidfirst mentioned, arm.

9. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, a feed roll.friction means on a portion of the surface of said feed roll fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable with the lower end of saidstack, means for pivotally mounting said member, drive means coordinatedwith the rotation of said feed roll for rocking said member about saidpivot to move said stack out of engagement with said friction means onthe feed roll, and means operable to selectively connect and disconnectsaid drive means and said member.

10. Apparatus of the'character described for applying sheet members toarticles or the like comprising means for feeding said articles, meansfor supporting a stack of said sheet members, rotatable means fornormally engaging a sheet at the lower end of said stack and feeding thesame from the stack, a member engageable with the lower end of saidstack, means for pivotally mounting said member, disconnectible drivemeans for rocking said member about said pivot to effect movement ofsaid stack into and out of engagement with said feedmeans, shiftablemeans for connecting and disconnecting said drive means, and means foroperating said shiftable means to provide a driving connection when anarticle is not in position to receive one of said sheet members. and fordisconnecting the drive means when an article is in position 'to receivea sheet member. 11.,Apparatus ofthe character described for applyingsheet members to articles or the like comprising means for feeding saidarticles, means for supporting a stack of said sheet members, rotatablemeans for normally engaging a sheet atthe lower end of said stack andfeeding the same from the stack, a member engageable with the lower endof said stack, means for pivotally mounting said member, disconnectibledrive means for rockingsaid member about said pivot to eflect movementof said stack into and out of engagement with said feed means, and meansK including a member engageable by said articles during feeding thereoffor disconnecting said drive means when an article is in position toreceive one of said sheet members and for conmeeting the drive meanswhen an article is not in position to receive the sheet member.

12. Apparatus of the character described for applying sheet members toarticles or the like comprising means for feeding said articles, meansfor supporting a stack of said sheet members, and means coordinated withthe feeding of said articles for feeding said members comprising arotatable member engageable with the lowermost sheet member in saidstack, means for shifting the position of said sheet members to feed thesame longitudinally between a pair of feed rolls, at least one of saidrolls having an undercut portion on its peripheral surface providing forreceiving the sheet member longitudinally of the axes of the rolls,means for applying adhesive to said sheet members while on one of saidfeed rolls, and means for applying said sheet members to said articles.v

13. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a plurality of sheet members in a stack, means for feedingsaid sheet members from said stack, a pair of feed rolls for receivingsaid sheet members from said feeding means and advancing the same, eachof said rolls having ribs between which the sheet members are receivedand advanced, and the ribs on at least one of said rolls having portionsof different radius to provide an undercut portion for receiving thesheet members longitudinally of the axes of said rolls and a portion forengaging said sheet members and advancing the same.

14. Feeding apparatus of the character described comprising means forsupporting a pin-- rality of sheet members inv a stack; means forfeeding said sheet members from said stack, a pair of feed rolls forreceiving said sheet members from said feeding means and advancing thesame, each of said rolls having; ribs between which the sheet membersare received and advanced, means includ n guide fingers extending intothe spaces between said ribs of one rolifor causing said-sheet membersto follow around the surface of the other of said rolls thereby tochange the direction of feed of the sheet members, and a ribbed adhesiveroll forgumming said sheet members while on the surface of said lastnamed roll, the ribs on said last named feed roll and .said adhesiveroll being staggered and so spaced as to avoid-contact therebetween whena sheetmember is notpositioned 'on the feed'roll.

l5. Infeeding apparatus of the character described, a ribbed feed roll,aribbed adhesive roll for gumming articles carried by said feed roll,the ribs on said feed roll and said adhesive roll being staggered and sospaced as to avoid contact therebetween when an article is notpositioned on the feed roll.

16. In feeding apparatus of the character described, a pair of ribbedfeed rolls, the ribs on one of said rolls having a portion of reducedradius providing for receiving sheets to be fed longitudinally of theaxes of said rolls, the ribs of the other roll being of constant radius,and a ribbed adhe-' sive roll for gumming said sheets whil on said lastnamed roll of constant radius, th ribs on said last named feed roll andsaid adhesive roll being staggered and so spaced as to avoid con tacttherebetween when a sheet is not positioned on the feed roll.

17. In feeding apparatus of the character described, a pair of n'bbedfeed rolls, the ribs on one of said rolls having a portion of reducedradius providing for receiving sheets to be fed longitudinally of theaxes of said rolls, the ribs of the other roll being of constant radius,a ribbed adhesive roll for gumming said sheets while on said last namedroll of constant radius, the ribs on said last named feed roll and saidadhesive roll being staggered and so spaced as to avoid contacttherebetween when a sheet is not positioned on the feed roll, and guidefingers co-operating with spaces between said ribs of the roll havingportions of reduced radiu to direct a sheet around the feed roll ofconstant radius and into the pat of said adhesive roll.

18. Feeding apparatus of the character de scribed comprising means forsupporting a pinrality of sheet members in a stack, means fc'r feedingsaid sheet members from said stack, a pair of feed rolls for receivingsaid sheet members from said feeding means and advancing the same, atleast one of said rolls having a plurality of spaced outwardlyprojecting ribs adapted to engage and advance the sheet members, guidemeans having portions extending into the spaces between the ribs of saidone roll for causing said sheet members to follow around the surface ofthe other roll thereby to change the direction of feed of the sheetmembers, and means for applying adhesive to the sheet members while onsaid other roll.

CLARENCE J. MALHIOT.

